


Hell & Paradise

by annabeth_at_the_helm



Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: 1950s, Gen, Korean War, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:00:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24356200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annabeth_at_the_helm/pseuds/annabeth_at_the_helm
Summary: Hawkeye consoles a wounded soldier.
Relationships: Frank Burns & Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Hell & Paradise

**Author's Note:**

> Written for "nurturing" on my Get Your Words Out Yahtzee prompt set #6.

"A few more hours, and you'll be on your way back to the front, soldier," Frank says, dropping the clipboard back onto its hook. "I hope you can appreciate your good fortune."

Hawkeye walks in just in time to hear Frank say this, and turns to glower at him.

"Frank, this man just had major surgery, he's going to need more time to rest than two days." Hawkeye walks over and sits on the empty bed next to the one with the unfortunate soldier in it. The soldier gives him a pathetically grateful look, and Hawkeye pats the bed next to him and forces a smile. He never feels like smiling here, not in Korea; if he doesn't, though, he'll just feel like screaming.

"Hmph," Frank says, "I think I'd know better than _you_ , Pierce," he says, but Hawkeye waves him away dismissively.

"Listen, Private Grant, I took a lot of shrapnel out of your belly, and I had to keep your heart going. You're not going back to the front today. I'm going to write an order to send you to Tokyo for a more complete recovery. Don't pay any attention to Major Burns, okay?"

The soldier nods. Hawkeye tweaks the creak in his smile.

"Here," Hawkeye says, and rearranges the blanket around Private Grant. "Comfortable? Well, I guess that's a stupid question when your gut probably feels like swiss cheese, but I do my best to mitigate that." Hawkeye is rambling, but what else is new? "Tell me about your girl," he says, gesturing to the photo clutched in the soldier's hand.

"Her name's Kathy," the soldier says. "She's the prettiest girl in my hometown. When she said she'd walk out with me… and then when I shipped out, she gave me this ribbon—" he holds it up, and Hawkeye remembers the death-grip he'd had on that when he'd come in "—to remember her by, and said she'd wait for me."

"Where are you from, private?" Hawkeye asks. The man smiles.

"Paradise, Michigan. Beats this Hell. Though there's one of those in Michigan, too."

"I bet it does," Hawkeye says, as the soldier's eyes droop closed. "Sleep well," he tells him, and it's a few minutes before he can bring himself to stop watching the soldier sleep and go about his rounds.


End file.
